2:26-29 - From the desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying, "Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left. Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot—as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us—until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us."
The encounter with Sihon begins with a peace overture (v26). The wording of the request for leave to pass through (v27) differs markedly from that recorded in Num.21:22, and appears chosen, like the request to the Edomites recounted in vv2-8, to stress the reasonableness of the request. Sihon is assured he will suffer no loss: "Sell us food . . . water for their price in silver." All that Israel wants is benevolence of transit: "only let me pass through on foot" (v28; see how this point is underscored by being set at the centre of the sub-unit's structure set out above). The specific referent of the remark, "as the descendants of Esau . . . and the Moabites . . . did for me," is unclear; it could refer to the sale of food and water or to their letting Israel pass through, or both. Either way, the remark serves to provide historical precedents for the assurance just given. As Edom and Moab had done for Israel so Israel had passed through without taking advantage of them; Sihon has grounds for exercising good faith.
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, rev., 2021